Impartial justice and individual discretion

Abstract

Abstract It is a commonplace that anglophone moral and political philosophy has for the past decade been the scene of a running battle between defenders and critics of impartiality. In one camp are Kantians, utilitarians, and sup porters of what I have called justice as impartiality. Ranged against them are a variety of anti-impartialist philosophers of whom Bernard Williams is probably the best known and certainly the funniest. These are joined by a school of feminist critics of impartiality from several disciplines, including notably social psychology as well as philosophy. The most distinctive theme of these feminist critics is that the typical impartialist concern with rights and duties is a distinctively male concern and that an ‘ethic of caring’ more characteristic of females is equally valid or, according to some, should drive impartialist ethics from the field altogether.